Letters to the Editor May 15, 2013

But there is something else that property owners must consider, too, and that is that the value of their property is going to be adversely affected if Curry County is viewed as not having appropriate police protection and as a county in decline. And this is after property values have already taken a huge hit from the “great recession” and housing crash. As property owners, why, in heavens name, would we want to shoot ourselves in the foot like this?

Don’t believe this will happen? It is already happening.

Realtor friends of mine say they’ve had ready out-of-state buyers excited about buying homes here in coastal Brookings until they begin hearing about the county’s financial crisis and then they’ve pulled their interest to look elsewhere. This is not surprising. Would you buy property in a place that is losing its police protection and going broke? Nope. And neither will others.

Which will mean a further decline in property values or, at best, the status quo, instead of the rise other locations are seeing.

In the long run, it serves the interest of property owners to pay a little more in property taxes to safeguard and increase the value of their property.

Eileen Sorrels

Harbor

2 trips for P.O. mail

Post Office mail must be deposited before 11 a.m. to go out that day. All the mail is not in the boxes until noon, requiring two trips to the post office.

How would they handle a complex scheduling problem?

No wonder people seek other means of communicating and the post office is in financial trouble.

R.H. Morneau Jr.

Brookings

i do not support 8-71

At the April Curry County Republican Central Committee meeting, after a long, confusing, and uninvited presentation by Commissioners Itzen and Smith on tax levy Measure 8-71, the approximate six members present voted to support the levy.

A resolution stating this support, previously prepared by Commissioners Itzen and Smith, was passed around for all to sign. Although I did sign the document, after thinking it over I now wish to dissociate myself from Measure 8-71.

I do not support tax levy Measure 8-71, and will vote against it as I believe it to be an unfair burden to the property owners of Curry County.

I also believe that these two county commissioners made up their mind that they were going to cram this tax levy down our throat, just like the progressive Democrats forced Obamacare through our federal legislature and have used the same distortions of the truth and bullying tactics that they used.

Please, all remember that the Republican Central Committee does not speak for all Republicans.

None of the articles published in this newspaper have made that distinction.

Patricia Ramsey

Brookings

fund pups on parade

Sing to the tune of “Here We Go ‘Round the Mulberry Bush”:

Here we go ‘round the Azalea Parade

Azalea Parade, Azalea Parade.

Here we go ‘round the Azalea Parade

With pups and pooches galore.

What a great time was last year’s Paws on Parade fundraiser! I still hear comments about it at the SCHS. It was a good time, but the best part is — the fun’s not over!

Thanks to all of you who sponsored our walkers and dogs — We’re back! And wow, do we have some sweethearts to look for this year. Among our caravan of canines will be:

We’re looking for sponsors to walk a dog on the May 25 Azalea parade route after signing up people who, in turn, will be pledging donations to see you walk. Corporate sponsorships are also available and appreciated. The company name will be printed on our walkers’ T-shirts so those at the parade will know you helped the animals here at the shelter, and can come to your business to thank you, too. Come out, enjoy the parade from a different vantage point — be in it!

We are non-profit. That means donations gathered through the year and those you give by sponsoring a walker and dog in the parade, go to providing shelter and care of animals living here until someone adopts them into a loving home.

Glenda Weber,

South Coast Humane Society

Brookings

5K relay generosity

On April 26 the C&K Market Relay for Life team hosted a 5K for Relay event in the Ray’s Food Place parking lot.

There were over 80 participants of all ages who walked, jogged, and ran 3.1 miles in order to support a great cause.

We raised over $900 with all the proceeds going toward the American Cancer Society! This is yet another example of what a generous community we have!

We look forward to seeing everyone at the annual Brookings Relay for Life event on July 13!

Vanessa Nidiffer

Brookings

we must take action

I agree with Mayor Hedenskog (May 8): “There has been no shortage of work performed to find a solution to the pending financial shortfall due to lost timber funds.”

Alas, our accord ends there.

The threat of State takeover is real and, as county commissioners, we must use the current information to inform our citizens; it would be unethical to do otherwise. You may read HB 3453 online.

We must take action in May to avoid the closure of the jail and other public safety services. We are using the unemployment reserves, working capital and all other funds to keep these departments open and providing public safety services now. The Juvenile Department data is factual, has not changed and -— from the beginning — the board lowered this cost to 80 percent for the incorporated areas.

Measure 8-71 gives us the fiscal bridge necessary to keep services while allowing adequate time to work together for a permanent solution.

Mayor Hedenskog’s comments regarding the position of other mayors are untrue. Gold Beach Mayor Popov was quoted weeks ago in the Curry County Reporter as supporting the levy and Mayor Auborn of Port Orford has told me he understands the importance and has voted for it.

Please tune in to Charter Cable Channel 99 or visit the Curry County website, www.co.curry.or.us, and click on the Board of Commissioners link on the left side for more information and one-on-one discussion with Mayor Hedenskog.

David Brock Smith, chair, Curry County Board of Commissioners

wow! the splendor!

This past Sunday a friend of mine suggested we take a walk through Azalea Park.

Wow!

The splendor of the beautiful rhododendrons and azalea bushes gave me a thrill beyond words! What a fantastic treat for all of us and particularly a sweet and delicious welcome for all the tourists coming to our lovely little Brookings.

And it’s free!

Many, many thanks to the great volunteers!

Janice Evans

Brookings

gold, silver will win

Saturday, May 18, Crescent City Lighthouse Inn, 9 a.m. - 3 p.m., Kris Ann Hall will be speaking about the history and application of Constitutional principles.

Economically speaking, gold and silver will win in the end as certainly as gravity brings a hammer you drop toward the ground.

The financial elite that hijacked your government in 1913 have set up a banking and financial system that must inflate the money supply, or die. Die they will not do voluntarily, so inflate they must.

On 10 May, 1775, the Second Continental Congress convened in Pennsylvania and voted to issue paper money in America for the first time. In fact, Congress issued so much paper money that by the end of the War for Independence their paper bank notes were “not worth a continental.”

The memory of that catastrophe was largely responsible for including Article I, section 10 in the U.S. Constitution, “No State shall make anything except gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debt.” That’s still in the Constitution, but for some reason, instead of obedience to their oath, the congress has given a monopoly to create money to a private banking cartel, the Federal Reserve System.

Example: in the ’50s and ’60s, gas was 15 to 20 cents a gallon. Two silver dimes would buy you a gallon of gas and a candy bar. Today silver is around $25 an ounce. Those same two silver dimes will still buy you a gallon of gas and a candy bar; if gold and silver were legal tender, which they are.

Why don’t people rise up to protect your rights and your children’s inheritance? Oh, I hear the bell ringing; it must be time to get in the cafeteria lunch line.

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